About
exalt demonstrates the power of effective educational engagement as a viable alternative to criminal justice involvement for today’s young people. At exalt, they know that it is their job to inspire and motivate young people to participate in what they have to offer. Their model is about re-engaging young people in their love for learning and in helping them understand the urgency of taking action to reverse their journey along the school-to-prison pipeline. exalt ‘ signature 21-Week Core Internship Program is designed to strategically address the interrelated challenges of court-involved youth, which are deeply tied to systemic inequities and racial disparities in education, employment, and justice systems. exalt’s Core Program equips youth with essential skills and core competencies to prepare for the workforce, while also offering tangible work experience through paid internships at $18 to $20/hour. Each year, exalt distributes approximately $1.5M in internship stipends to our participants, the majority of which are from low-income backgrounds and communities of color. This tested model successfully integrates court-involved youth into our economic mainstream, ultimately strengthening the overall workforce and economic landscape.
For most of their young people, exalt participation offers the first time they are experiencing paid internship or work in a professional setting and this experience has a tremendous impact on their ability to see themselves as a participant of and contributor to the economic mainstream. By providing above-minimum wages and free court advocacy, they are also helping to alleviate families’ immediate financial burdens. Additionally, their commitment to securing scholarships enables families to invest in their children’s education, benefiting future generations. Ultimately, exalt’s holistic approach is helping to dismantle systems that have long contributed to economic inequality in low-income communities.
exalt is a recognized thought-leader in juvenile justice because of their consistent outstanding results, receiving Brooklyn Org’s Spark Prize in 2018. In 2022 after their first scaling initiative and effective COVID response, exalt received a $5M transformational grant from MacKenzie Scott. This investment came at a pivotal time and allowed exalt to complete capacity building with Education First, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2023, exalt received recognition from Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez and exalt Executive Director, Gisele Castro, received a Congressional Citation from Dan Goldman.